Caught You in a Song
by treehilluver23
Summary: You've got the words to change a nation but you're biting your tongue. You've spent a life time stuck in silence afraid you'll say something wrong. If no one ever hears it how we gonna learn your song?
1. the city awaits

**Title:** Caught You in a Song

**Fandom:** Hollywood Heights

**Pairing/Character(s): **Eddie/Loren; Tyler/Melissa; Adam/Melissa

**Rated:** PG-13/R for later chapters

**Spoilers:** None. Completely AU (Some of the characters may even be a bit OOC at times)

**Summary:** _You've got the words to change a nation but you're biting your tongue. You've spent a life time stuck in silence afraid you'll say something wrong. If no one ever hears it how we gonna learn your song?_

* * *

**chapter one | the city awaits**

_Because the night is young  
the line is out the door  
today was crazy but,  
tonight the city is ours_

**- Big Time Rush, "The City is Ours"**

The California sun shined bright against the city, illuminating soft patterns of Palm Trees along the clear pavement, as the yellow Taxi cab soaked up the open road. Inside the cab, twenty year old Loren Tate couldn't believe she was finally in LA. She'd dreamed of this moment for as long as she could remember. She'd dreamed of being in the place where she knew all of her dreams would come true. _This was it,_ she thought to herself. There was no turning back now.

The taxi came to a halt in front of a large apartment building. The outside was beige and it looked like some of the apartment came with a small balcony. There was a doorman outside, and Loren wondered how her best friend was able to pull off such an amazing living space when she couldn't keep a steady job for more than a month. The cabbie went to retrieve her bags from the trunk, and Loren suddenly felt like a girl from one of those teen movies she and her best friend used to watch.

"Thank you," Loren smiled as she handed the cabbie a few crumpled up bills from the bottom of her messenger bag. He sneered down at the bills rumpled before he got in the cab and drove away. The doorman opened the door for her when she made her way to the door. When she thanked him there was a look on his face like he'd never heard those words before. She took the elevator to the sixth floor, and pulled her bags behind her toward the apartment that would officially become her home.

"You're here!" the over joyous voice of her best friend sounded. The door ripped open before Loren even had a chance to open it. Melissa pulled her into a tight hug before she pulled back and motioned for Loren to follow her inside. "We are going to have so much fun, I tell you!"

Melissa Sanders had been Loren's best friend since before she could remember. If someone asked Loren to describe her friend in one word, she wouldn't be able to because Melissa was so much more than just a single word. She was equipped with _click-clacking_ bracelets, brightly colored clothes, and the confidence and charisma to match it all. Melissa was without a doubt a true walking sideshow, and Loren couldn't get enough of her. They somehow managed to balance each other out.

"How did you swing this place?" Loren asked as she looked around the spacious apartment, if she could even call it that. It was more like a penthouse. The plush black couches went perfectly with the crème colored backdrop of the walls. However, the best part was the spectacular view from the balcony. Slowly, Loren walked toward the balcony doors and stepped outside. The view nearly took her breath away. She could see everything from here, and she absolutely loved it.

Loren was so caught up in the view that she didn't see Melissa stand next to her. "It's gorgeous isn't it?"

The sound of Melissa's voice startled Loren. She looked over at her friend and smiled. "How can you afford this place? I will give you as much as I can when I start my job I promise. I won't let you pay for this alone."

A mischievous smile played across Melissa's pale pink lips that send a cold chill down Loren's spine. She knew that look and she didn't like it. "Mel…"

Loren gave her best stern look to wear Melissa down. "Okay fine. It's not my apartment!"

"What?" Loren shouted. Some woman from the balcony above them looked down at the two of them with a pensive look. "What do you mean this isn't your apartment?"

Melissa shrugged sheepishly, "Just what I said. This isn't my apartment."

"Did you? Did you?" Loren's hazel eyes widened with horror. She dropped her voice to a soft whisper. "Are we breaking the law?"

Melissa rolled her big doe as at her friend's behavior. "No, Lo, this is perfectly legal. Remember how I told you I got a job?"

Loren nodded slowly, "Yeah."

"Well, that job just so happens to be penthouse sitting!" Melissa said, as she tried to make her voice sound as upbeat as possible. "A friend of mine from film school let me in on this house sitting gig. The penthouse belongs to this model that will be out of the country for a year. All I have to do is watch the house and watch her dog and I get paid for doing it every other week."

Loren breathed a small sigh of relief. "Where's the dog?"

Melissa looked confused for a second before she realized what her friend was asking. "Oh, the dog is at some weird play date thing. It will be back tomorrow."

"But in the meantime," Melissa smiled wide. She skipped back into the penthouse with Loren on her tail. She retrieved two black envelopes from the coffee table and held them up as she wiggled her perfectly arched brows.

"What are those?" Loren asked although she was kind of afraid to know the answer. So far, this day hadn't exactly turned out the way she'd hoped.

"These, my doe eyed friend, are non-other than tickets to the intimate concert series at Max Duran's club on sunset tonight," Melissa bounced with joy.

"Oh my god! You mean legendary Rock God Max Duran?" Loren asked. This day was starting to get a whole lot better.

"That's the one," Melissa beamed as she pointed a manicured nail at her friend. "I also hear Dead on Arrival is doing an acoustic set, and if all the planets align then there is a great possibility that Eddie Duran will hit the stage."

"You think so?" Loren asked as she sat down on the couch against the wall. "According to the blogs he's been kind of MIA since that whole Chloe thing."

"Yeah, but that was like months ago. I'm sure he's over it by now, right?" Melissa insisted as she transitioned into the connected kitchen.

It was no secret that rock star Eddie Duran's world went in flames six months ago when it was revealed that his girlfriend of over a year, Chloe Carter, left him for the famous movie producer Osborne Silver after a month long affair. Their breakup was everywhere. It was splashed over every tabloid and talked about on ever blog. Loren honestly felt bad for Eddie.

Based on the interviews she'd seen, Eddie came off as a really nice guy and he seemed to really love Chloe. To have someone walk out of your life with no regards to your feelings was something Loren knew all too well. She could just imagine what Eddie was going through on a personal level. Loren shook her head slowly to banish all thought of Eddie and his potential pain from her mind. Loren reminded herself that she didn't have time to get caught up in some else's career or problems that came with them. She was here for a reason, and that was to achieve her goals. Loren Tate was determined to make it in Hollywood.


	2. hope is lost

**chapter two | hope is lost**

_Don't tell me if I'm dying, because I don't want to know _

_If I can't see the sun, maybe I should go _

_Don't wake me because I'm dreaming_

**- Thriving Ivory, "Angles On the Moon"**

The soft slit of sun that peaked through the open curtains of his bedroom felt like a knife being jabbed into the back of his head. He knew he shouldn't have polished off the last bottle of scotch the night before, but at the time he could care less. At the time he needed the scotch, it welcomed him with its soft rich taste and power to forget about everything he'd been through in the past six months. With just a few sips he was able to get Chloe out of his mind, and if he finished the entire bottle then he was able to completely forget everything. There were times when he didn't remember his own name.

Other nights, he'd change it up and Vodka would find itself bitterly sliding down his esophagus. He knew deep down what he did every night could potentially kill him, he knew this more than people seemed to realize. But for some sick reason he found pleasure in this pain, and he couldn't find the will to stop himself. He'd seen what alcohol had done to his father in the years after his mother's death, and he promised himself that he would never let it take over his life. And yet there he was, superstar Eddie Duran, drinking himself into a premature death.

He stared up at the ceiling of his bedroom and took in the soft patterns molded against the concrete. It was one of the main reasons he'd brought this place. It was the little details that attracted him to it. Like how in the kitchen there was a small arch that made up the entryway. He loved the simplicity of it all and every time he would see it, a smile would always ghost his lips, but right now he felt nothing. All he could feel now was the dull ache of a permanent hangover.

A loud banging sound came from some outside his bedroom. It took Eddie a while to realize the banging noise was in fact someone knocking on the front door. He reluctantly pulled himself from bed and shuffled into the living room of the penthouse.

"I'm coming!" Eddie shouted angrily toward the door as the banging continued. He had a good idea as to who it was behind the door, and he was going to kill said person as soon as he passed the threshold.

"You look like shit," his best friend Tyler Rorke complained with a look that could only be identified as disgust. He pushed his way into the penthouse, and let Eddie shut the door behind him.

Tyler made himself comfortable on the leather couch and flipped on the TV. Eddie turned slowly and watched his friend with disbelief. He'd known Tyler since they were teenagers. The two of them met on a set of some teen comedy where Eddie played the All American good guy while Tyler ended up in the role he was born to play: the bad boy.

"What are you doing here so early?" Eddie questioned. He plopped down on the couch next to Tyler.

Tyler looked at him sideways, and laughed. "Dude, it's damn near six in the afternoon. How much did you drink last night?"

Eddie scrubbed his hands across his face, rubbing hard at the skin he knew was reddening underneath his eyes. Eddie sighed and leaned further into the couch. "I had no idea it was getting so late."

"Well, it is, and I came by to make sure you got dressed because we're going to Papa Max's concert thing. I hear Dead on Arrival are playing," Tyler said as he flipped through different channels.

"I don't think I'm up for it. Maybe some other night man."

"You've been saying that for the past couple months, Ed," Tyler pointed out evenly. He knew his friend was still hurting over Chloe, and he sympathizes, he really does, but there comes a time when you have to put on your big boy pants and move on. "I know you loved Chloe, she was a dope girl, but you need to move on."

"I am moving on," Eddie insisted harshly.

"You're moving on to what? Hard liquor?" Tyler didn't mean to make it sound as harsh as it came out but he wasn't taking it back. Eddie needed to get his ass up off the couch and move on. He needed to get himself together and finally get his life back. Tyler knew the label and Eddie's manager, Jake, was all over him. Tyler also knew that they were aware of Eddie's current drinking problem and doing nothing to help him. It made him sick just thinking about it.

"You don't understand," Eddie snapped. He stood and glared down at his friend with fiery eyes. "I loved her so much and she did _this_ to me!"

"Look, man, I know you're hurting. I know you're in a dark place. I have been there, trust me. You have to move on from Chloe. It's been six fucking months!" Tyler screamed. He couldn't keep it in anymore. He was tired of tiptoeing around Eddie's feeling. He'd been doing it for the past six months and he was fucking sick of it. Chloe was gone. She'd left him for another man that she was having an affair with. The sooner he accepted it. The much better off he would be.

"Get out," Eddie barked. He walked over and opened the door wide. "Get the fuck out, Tyler. I don't need your shit!"

"Really, Eddie?" Tyler stood up pissed. "You're kicking me out because I told you the fucking truth?"

"I'm kicking you out because you're a fucking loser. What's the last girlfriend you've ever had? So don't try and pretend you understand me and Chloe," Eddie snapped. "Go ride someone else's coattail for a while."

Eddie watched as Tyler's face twisted with hurt. Despise what people may have thought, Tyler got roles in movies without Eddie's help, and both of the men in that room knew it. And to have Eddie throw it in his face was messed up, Tyler thought. Eddie was his boy no doubt, and he'd always be there for him but for right now he was done. He'd come back sometime later in the week to show how strong their bond was but for now he was gone. He'd let Eddie drown himself and booze tonight and force him to realize that no one else would be there for him in the morning. That no one would show up with coffee and food to make sure he was still breathing like Tyler did. No he was done, and his friend really needed to see that.

"Don't call me when you get alcohol poisoning," Tyler said clearly as he walked out the door. He didn't even flinch when it slammed on its hinges behind him. He just kept walking toward the elevator.


	3. this broken heart

**chapter three | this broken heart**

_Love will scar your make-up lip sticks to me_

_So now I'll maybe leave back there_

_I'm sat here wishing I was sober_

_I know I'll never hold you like I used to. _

**- Ed Sheeran, "Drunk"**

Loren watched her reflection in the mirror carefully as she ran tube of cherry red lip-gloss across her top lip. Her suitcase lay out on the bed spilled over with the clothes she has yet to put away. The room she stayed in was spacious and a lot fancier than Loren was used to. The queen-sized bed was equipped with buttercream sheets and matching duvet that felt softer than anything she'd ever laid her fingers on.

Melissa is in the room across the hall bouncing around to some pop song she'd been obsessed with for weeks all the while talking on the phone with her boyfriend, Adam. Loren thought Adam was nice enough whenever she was around. However, there was just something about him that didn't sit too well with Loren. She had a feeling that he wasn't as into Mel and she was him. But Loren didn't dare say anything. She knew her best friend and if Loren's suspicions somehow came to light, their friendship wouldn't be the same. So instead, she kept her mouth shut and hoped that Melissa figured it out for herself.

Once she was done with her lips, Loren stood back and examined herself in the full length mirror. She wore a red top, a pair of Seven jeans she splurged on herself at the mall, and a pair of black pumps to match the leather jacket she swiped from her mom's closet before she left home.

"Oh, wow, don't you look like sex," Melissa complimented as she walked into the room. She wore a multicolored tutu, white blouse, and matching long legged boots. Mel wore her trademark assortment of jewelry that would look like too much on anyone else. But on Melissa, it all came together perfectly and made her all the more beautiful.

"Mel," Loren blushed although she should be used to her friend saying such things.

"There are no lies being detected here." Melissa said as she sat down on the bed Indian-style, all the while her bracelets _clinking_ together. "If I was I guy I would totally try and tap that."

Loren winked as she turned to face her friend, "Right back at ya, sexy."

"Alright," Mel rose from the bed and clapped her hands together, "We should get going. I hear the first set starts at eight and I don't want to miss a thing."

"Are you sure it's alright for us to use these tickets?" Loren questioned. Her youthful face twisted with uncertainty. She was excited about going to the club, she really was, it was just that she didn't want to do anything illegal, especially not on her first day in a new place.

"Yes," Melissa insisted. She grabbed Loren by the shoulders, and forced the girl to look into her eyes. "We are going out tonight to listen to some amazing bands and party the night away. I have to get the car situated and everything. I'll meet you down stairs in the lobby, okay?"

As she brushed her hair, Loren caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. The faint bruise on her collarbone shone underneath the soft florescent lights of the room, and she felt her stomach clench when her soft brown eyes landed on the imperfection. Every time she caught side of the bruise, it would take her back to that place. She could see herself, standing there in the middle of the room watching as it all happened, watching as her world crashed against the hardwood beside her lifeless body. The pale pink brushed dropped to the ground, and Loren closed her eyes tight against their lids to stop herself from crying.

She didn't want to do this, not here not now. Instead, Loren forced herself to focus on something else. She stared at her reflection once she could compose herself again. They were gone, the visions of that completely banished from her mind, tucked away safe in the back crevices of her mind. She would keep them there, hide them where they belonged.

"It's over," she whispered. She shut out the lights in the penthouse before she shut the door and headed toward the elevator.

When the elevator doors dinged open, Loren stepped in and sighed. She had a feeling this would be one of those long nights. A guy dark Ray Ban sunglasses and a hat stood at the other end of the spacious elevator. She looked at the guy sideways before pressing the button for the lobby. He didn't make much noise; he just stood there facing ahead. Loren mentally checked off the fact that she had a tube of pepper spray next to her cellphone in her clutch purse.

Loren had never been stuck in an elevator before. She'd always seen it on television, but the moment she felt the elevator shake and the lights inside flicker she knew exactly what had happened. She steadied herself on the banister so she wouldn't fall in her heels. The guy standing at the other end of the elevator cursed loudly, as he fell to the ground.

"Are you okay?" Loren asked.

The guy tossed his glasses across the elevator, and that was when she realized who the guy was. It was Eddie Duran or she thought it was. He looked a lot different from the man she'd seen on television. His face sagged from an obvious lack of sleep. Slight stubble outlined his cheekbones. But through it all, Eddie still managed to be attractive.

"I'm just peachy fucking keen," Eddie snapped. Loren stepped back like she'd been physically slapped by his words. He pulled out a bottle of beer from the six-pack lying next to him. Loren watched him in disgust. She hadn't even noticed the brown paper bag he kept the six-pack in when she stepped on the elevator.

"You know, I'm sorry I asked," Loren snapped back. She didn't care if he was some big star. She was done letting men treat her like dirt. "Jerk."

"What is your problem?" Eddie barked.

"My problem? I asked you a simple question of concern and you snapped at me like some crazy person," she fought back. Loren had completely turned to face him where he sat on the floor. She glared down at him with disgust.

"Do you know who I am?" he shouted. His hand gripped tighter around the neck of the beer bottle.

"Some drunken guy in an elevator?" Loren sassed, with one hand firmly placed on her hip. She looked down at him like a mother scolding her child for doing something wrong.

Eddie laughed bitterly. "You're a bitch."

"I'd rather be a bitch than an alcoholic," Loren admitted. She looked down at Eddie, and for a moment she honestly felt sorry for him. "I've seen what's been going on with you on TV, and I can tell you're hurting but you need to know that you're not going to find the solution to your problems at the bottom of those bottles nor by being a complete asshole to people that genuinely care."

"So what, you care?" Eddie asked bitterly, his eyes narrowed.

"I don't even know you," Loren said, just as the elevator began running again. The doors opened into the lobby and she stepped off after saying, "And after this little encounter, I don't want to."

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**A/N:** _The next chapter should be posted soon. In the meantime, please review! I would love to know what you all think if the story good or bad._


	4. fighting to survive

**A/N: **Thank you so much to everyone the reviewed the story so far! It really means a lot to me. I didn't get many reviews and it does sting a little, but the fic is relatively knew to this site. Anyway, I really hope all like this chapter.

In regards to one person's question, this story is hurt/comfort so there will be times when the story is a little sad but don't worry because things will get happy soon.**  
**

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**chapter four | fighting to survive**

_All this time goes by, still no reason why _

_A little bit longer and I'll be fine _

_Waiting on a cure but none of them are sure _

_A little bit longer and I'll be fine_

**The Jonas Brothers, "A Little Bit Longer"**

_"I'd rather be a bitch than an alcoholic."_

No matter what he did, Eddie couldn't get those words out of his head. It was one word in particular though that stayed with him long after he'd walked tiredly into his apartment after the little elevator encounter. He didn't know that girl in the elevator, and based on her words he didn't have the desire to ever see her again. He wouldn't admit it aloud, but hearing those words (_that word_) made him feel like a complete failure. He hated himself, hated what he'd become because of Chloe. He could hear that girl's voice again, hard and truthful against the drums of his ears. She was right. He was pathetic, and he hated that girl for being right. He resented that fact that a complete stranger was able to pinpoint his problem when his own manager couldn't.

He looked up at himself, at his reflection in the mirror and flinched. He didn't even recognize himself anymore. He looked like a completely different person. Eddie's eyes connected with his own in the mirror, and that's when he saw it. His eyes, the ones that people always told him where his best asset, were lifeless. The hazel in them looked dull and lost. His hair had grown out, and the stubble going across his cheek grew with every passing minute. He didn't recognize this person. He didn't recognize the man that stared back at him like a lost soul. His eyes pleaded for something, and when he realized what it was he lost it.

"Fuck!" Eddie shouted, his fist colliding with the mirror. He barely registered the pain. He could feel the shards of the glass slicing open the pale skin at his knuckles, but the pain barely sunk in. All he felt was relief. It was relief over the fact that he didn't have to see that guy in the mirror, the one with the eyes that screamed for help.

Eddie knew there was a possibility that he hand would be broken, that he'd have the recording of his new album on hold, but Eddie couldn't bring himself to actually care. Because in that moment, all he felt was triumph. The blood fell from his crushed fingers like water, flowing freely over the bathroom sink. The red liquid trickled down the porcelain bowl and onto the floor. The shards of glass lay hazardously over different parts of the bathroom stained with Eddie's blood. He stepped back from the broken mirror, the arm with the broken hand dangled at his side.

He walked lifelessly through the penthouse and stopped when he reached the living room. The relational part of his mind told him to get something, anything, to stop the bleeding. He'd yet to feel the pain but dried blood didn't look good soaked into the plush white carpet. He found a dishtowel from the kitchen and used it to wrap his hand up.

Eddie plopped down on the leather couch. The lack of blood was starting to make his head dizzy. He pulled out his phone and called the one person he knew would come without judgment.

* * *

Tyler Rorke got a bad reputation when it came to woman, and he'd be the first one to admit it. People often described him as the John Mayer of actors. There always was a different woman in his bed every night, and he was more than willing to share with the public when it came to the woman he slept with. His honesty was his best quality, and Tyler refused to let that go. His best friend always told him one day he would find a girl that saw completely through his bullshit. Tyler always laughed because he couldn't picture someone of the opposite sex blatantly turning him down. _Have you seen him?_

Tyler's ice blue eyes scanned the club with delight. The women looked fine tonight, and mentally checked off in his head the ones he wanted to see more of later that night. His eyes laid on one in particular. She was short, curvy and, bounced happily where she stood. She stood next to a girl much taller and equally beautiful but the short one drew his eye. There was something about him that he liked. It could have been the way she bounced around with no regard as to anyone thought or the way her doe brown eyes lit up with innocence. Whichever one it was, Tyler knew he needed try and get to know her better.

"Hi, beautiful," Tyler schmoozed with sly smile. The girl looked up at him and smiled. _She was hooked,_ Tyler thought to himself. "Can I buy you and your friend a drink?"

The girl smile widened. Her friend, however, looked at him with distain. "I don't know. Can you afford to?"

He laughed, which caused her to smirk. "Of course I can. I'm Tyler Rorke," he explained with a seductive smile.

"Nice to know," she sassed. He liked this girl, and seeing her close up nearly took his breath away. This girl was short, curvy, and hella fine. "I think we're going to pass on the drink though."

"Is your boyfriend around here or something?" he asked. Tyler could care less about a boyfriend if she had one.

"No, I just have a 'Don't accept drinks from womanizers' policy," she snapped sarcastically with a smile.

"You don't even know me," Tyler defended, although he knew deep down she was right.

"You're Tyler Rorke, right?" she said with a triumphant smile. She and her friend laughed as they walked away. He would have responded, but he stopped when his phone vibrated from the inside pocket of his blazer.

"Hello?" he answered. It was Eddie.

"Ty, I need you to take me to hospital. I don't feel so hot," Eddie explained. His voice sounded far away.

"Are you alright?" Tyler asked, concerned.

"No, man, I lost a lot of blood," Eddie said lazily.

"I'll be there as soon as I can. I'll stay on the line so you don't fall asleep and slip into a coma or something," Tyler said as he rushed for the door.

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**A/N:** _What did you all think? Let me know! If you're confused then the girl Tyler was talking to was Melissa.  
_


	5. the rhythm of life

**A/N: **_Hi, everyone! I am so sorry that I haven't updated in a while. University has been kicking my butt. I'm even behind on Hollywood Heights. I haven't watched the show in weeks so please no spoilers. Anyway, I hope you all like this chapter._**  
**

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**chapter five | the rhythm of life**

_And I don't have a plan at all  
But I got this six-string religion  
And I do, I do believe a song can heal me  
It's enough for me_

**Kate Voegele, "Sandcastles"**

"Oh, my god, can you believe that guy?" Melissa laughed as she and Loren stepped out of the club. The California night air whispered across their bare skin deliciously. Both girls loved California at night. There was something so peaceful about the air that gave them both a sense of wide-eyed wonder. "He was all 'I'm Tyler Rorke' like I was actually supposed to care."

Loren laughed as she pushed the whispering hairs away from her face. "And the way you shut him down was hilarious!"

Melissa smiled proudly to herself. It wasn't everyday she got the chance to turn down young Hollywood's greatest bad boy. Melissa didn't live under a rock. She knew exactly who Tyler Rorke was before he'd even approached her. More importantly, she knew of his track record with women. He used them to get what he wanted before he would toss them to the side as if they were disposable objects. She wasn't that kind of girl, not to mention she had a very loving boyfriend miles away that she missed every single day.

"How awesome was the band tonight!" Melissa gushed with a huge smile, as she banished all thought of Tyler Rorke and missing her boyfriend, Adam, out of her mind. She wrapped her arm through Loren's as the two of them started down the street.

"Awesome times ten!" Loren gushed just as much as her friend. The best friends strolled down the street arm in arm as the night air happily surrounded them. It was times like these, Loren concluded, that thinks she made the right decision of moving to LA. There was something in the air here that made her believe that dreams really did come true.

She and Melissa hailed a cab to a little Deli three blocks away. There was barely anyone inside the Deli when they stepped through, considering how late it was. Both girls ordered huge sandwiches and equally huge milkshakes to wash them down. Neither girl realized just how hungry they were. The girls talked and shared and Loren admitted to Melissa that she'd been writing a lot more songs. She hadn't gone into detail of what they were about. Loren knew that if she'd told Melissa the real meaning behind her songs then it would open an entire new flood gate of emotions and hurt that Loren wasn't quite ready to let flood through.

"Oh, no," Loren frowned down at her phone. "They need me at the clinic."

"How?" Melissa asked with a mouth full of pastrami sandwich. She smiled sheepishly when Loren gave her a disgusted look. She swallowed the rest of her food and washed it down with a sip if milkshake before she spoke again. "I thought you weren't supposed to start until tomorrow. How can they ask you to come in?"

"Technically," Loren said, looking down her cellphone, "It is tomorrow."

* * *

Eddie squinted against the bright florescent lights of the clinic. His vision blurred lightly, and he blinked a few times to clear it. Eddie had insisted Tyler take him to the all-night clinic four blocks away from his apartment. Eddie knew that if he'd gone to the hospital, the paparazzi and the press would be all over it. He didn't have time deal with Jake and the label bitching at him, and trying to somehow spin what he'd done into some kind of an accident. If he was being honest with himself, Eddie didn't know if what he did could be considered an accident. He'd wanted the pain to go away, and at the time punching the bathroom mirror seemed like the right thing to do. He hadn't expected Tyler to actually show up, and a part of him wouldn't blame his best friend if he'd left him bleeding against the leather of his expensive couch. He'd been a dick to Tyler for simply telling the truth.

"How do you feel?" Eddie turned his head slightly. Tyler sat in a chair in the corner.

Eddie struggled to sit up, but he made it. "Like I smashed my hand into a mirror."

Tyler smirked. "Well, you look like microwaved shit."

The rock star chuckled lightly, but winced also from the pain. "I feel like it," he said, grabbing at his side. _How the hell did he hurt his ribs?_

"On the upside, your nurse is kind of hot," Tyler gave his trademark grin. The nurse that had come in to clean up Eddie looked familiar, but he couldn't exactly place where he'd seen her from.

"Is that all you think about?" Eddie asked with an amused smile. Tyler was the only person that could manage to make Eddie laugh at such a troubling time. It was one of the main reasons he and Tyler were such good friends. Not to mention that fact that Tyler refused to kiss his ass or pretend that everything he said and did was amazing.

The actor faked thinking about the question before he answered, "Pretty much, yeah."

The friends were in a fit of laughter when the young nurse walked in. Her head was tilted downward to the clipboard in her arm as she reviewed Eddie's chart. Although she wasn't looking up at him, Eddie knew exactly who she was. He'd recognize the girl that had told him off anywhere. She looked a lot different without makeup on her face. Her looks were soft and subtle causing her to be incredibly sexy without trying. However, it wasn't her looks that stuck with Eddie. It was what she'd said. It was her voice he heard, loud and clear only hours ago when he'd launched his fist through the bathroom mirror.

When she finally looked up, her soft brown eyes enlarged for just a moment, before she managed to regain her composure. "So, what happened?" she asked as she examined his hand gingerly. The feeling of her small hand lightly grazing his wounded one sent a chill down his spine. She must not have noticed because she softly let his hand go before recording whatever she saw on the clipboard.

"I, ugh, fell," Eddie lied.

"You fell?" Her voice sounded skeptical as she looked at him as if he'd grown another head right before her eyes.

Eddie glanced at Tyler, who gave him a look he couldn't quite read. "Yeah, I, ugh, fell into the coffee table in my penthouse."

Loren flipped her hair to one side as she gave him a hard look. She knew he was lying, had known it since she checked his records and saw that one of the other nurses said that he'd fallen into a glass coffee table.

"There is no way you could have fallen into your coffee table because your wounds show force. The cuts on your hand are deep, and you see how the cuts are going that way. It means your hand was pulled out of the glass, and that means there is no way you couldn't have fallen and only gotten one hand damaged. There would be cuts on more than just one part of your body, Mr. Duran."

Eddie stared at her, his brown eyes pleading with her to drop it. He didn't want to go to that place again. It was a place that it seemed on her words could take him. Loren saw his despair. Although he came off like a jerk in the elevator a part of her could relate to his pain.

"I'll clean you hand up and give you something for the pain," Loren finally said to him. She gave him one last look before leaving the room.


	6. questions to answers

**A/N: **Hi, everyone! I know you all probably hate me because I haven't updated this story in a really long time and I am so sorry for that. My laptop died and I had to get a new one recently. Not only that but I am in University and I planned to finish my book this month for NaNoWriMo which I am 3k words away from achieving. Anyway, here is the new chapter!

**Tumblr:** alexlola123 | **Twitter:** Lex_Says | **Instagram:** bookjunkie12

* * *

**chapter six | questions to answers**

_Well your faith was strong _

_but you needed proof  
You saw her bathing on the roof  
Her beauty and the moonlight overthrew you_

**Kate Voegle "Hallelujah"**

Melissa smiled down at her phone as she read the text message Adam sent her. They'd been dating since high school, and although the distance of Adam being away at school came between them sometimes, Melissa wouldn't trade him in for anyone else. He was her rock. When things in her world, hadn't been going right, Adam was right there to catch her. Melissa knew that Loren wasn't too fond of Adam and she was grateful to her friend for not voicing her opinion the way she knew Loren wanted to. Of course she and Adam had problems. What couples didn't? However, they always managed to work them out.

"So, we meet again," a smooth velvety voice spoke from in front of her. Melissa sat in the waiting area at the clinic as she waited for Loren to finish up with her patient. When she looked up, her breath slightly caught in her throat. There was no denying that Tyler Rorke was gorgeous and those piercing blue eyes of his seemed to look right into her soul.

"It's you," Melissa said with distain once she'd shaken away the haze of his good looks. He was still a womanizing jerk underneath it all.

"It's me," he flashed a million dollar smile. Tyler pulled out the chair across from her and sat down. They'd taken Eddie away to get an X-Ray on his hand, and there was really no use for him in there. When he'd spotted the girl who'd turned him down at the club sitting by herself, he thanked whomever it was that had given him a second chance. She looked even better in the light. Her tanned skin and exotic features made her even more appealing to him. "What brings you to a clinic like so late?"

Melissa was taken aback for a moment. She hadn't expected him to ask such a simple question. She was sure he'd open up with a crude sentence that she'd have to slap him for. "My friend works here. She got called in at the last minute. What about you? Don't want anyone to know you're being tested for sexually transmitted diseases?"

He smirked. "Actually, I'm stalking you. I was just so hurt by what you said at the club, I had to track you down and start over."

She bit her lip, trying her hardest not to smile. Tyler Rorke was smooth. However, Melissa forced herself not to get caught up in his charm. "You honestly expect me to believe that blatant lie?"

Tyler clutched at his chest feigning hurt. "I'm wounded. I may not have been stalking you but I really do want to apologize."

"You don't have to," Melissa said softly.

Tyler reached across the table and grabbed her hand. He smirked when she gasped at the electric shock send between their connected hands. "I want to."

She started to respond, but stopped when her phone vibrated against the table. Melissa jerked her hand back, as she forced herself to snap out of the haze Tyler managed to get her in when they were alone. "I have to take this," she said, getting up and cooing words of love into the phone with Adam.

* * *

Loren watched as Eddie dazed in and out of consciousness. Due to the extent of his injuries, he'd lost a lot of blood, and needed close monitoring. She'd given him fluids and hooked him up to an IV, as the doctor instructed, to help him regain his strength. Loren watched him from her spot in the corner of the room. She couldn't help but feel bad for him. He was a guy that had spent the majority of his years in the spotlight and with a woman he believed loved him only to have her betray him in the most intimate of ways. She knew how that felt, and it wasn't the most pleasant feeling in the world. In fact, it sucked, and because if the shared pain she had with Eddie, Loren regretted how awful she'd been to him when they first met in the elevator.

"How are you feeling?" Loren asked which caused Eddie to jump at the sound of his voice. She gave him an apologetic look.

"Like shit," Eddie coughed. He tried to sit up but gave up after a while. "I'm sure I look it, too. The paparazzi are going to have a field day when they get a look at me."

"The clinic has a patient confidentiality rule so no one will know you were here if that is what you want. You can even use a fake name. We won't question it."

"Thanks," he said, looking anywhere but at her. "I am so fucking tired. I just want to go to sleep."

"You can't," Loren interjected. "You might have a concussion. If you do we don't want you to slip into a coma or something."

"How the hell am I supposed to stay awake?"

"That is what I am here for. We could play a game," Loren offered with a small smile. "How about we play twenty questions? You start."

Eddie sighed. "Where are you from?"

"The Valley." Loren laughed at the disapproving look on Eddie's face. Not many people were too fond of The Valley especially celebrities.

"What are you doing in LA?" he asked.

"Hey, you had your turn. It's mine now," Loren scolded with a smile. "What is your favorite band?"

"Journey."

"Why are you in LA?"

Loren laughed. "You're not letting that one go are you? I'm a singer. Not only that but I needed a change of scenery."

"Who are you running from?" Eddie asked without thinking. It's just that the look on her face indicated that her reasons for leaving The Valley ran a lot deeper than just needing a change of scenery or following her dreams. The way she looked down and avoided his eyes gave her away. She was hurting, and he could tell mostly because he'd seen that look before. It's the same look he saw when he looked in the mirror. Maybe this girl was more like him that he thought.

"I'm not running from anyone." Loren could barely breathe. She hadn't expected him to ask something so personal.

"I'm sorry," Eddie apologized. "I didn't mean to overstep."

"No," Loren said shaking her head as she stood from her chair. "I, uh, think I am going to send in another nurse to keep you company."

"Wait." Before Eddie had a chance to stop her, she was gone.


End file.
